Soul Crew Records is a new events company that aims to do things differently.
Their founder, John Paul Rossiter, explained the project…
We are a new events company looking to collaborate with everyone in the music industry to help promote the amazing artists that this city has.
We want them to be paid fairly.
We would like to work alongside all events teams, management, record labels and venues as one big family to get all this talent out for the world to see and hear.
We are not here to take over, we are here to take part.
What was the inspiration behind Soul Crew Records?
I have heard artists put on amazing shows and sometimes they were not even getting paid as promised for these shows.
A lot of these artists are fresh out of university or even working nine-to-five jobs, to then rush home to eat and shower; rush to get taxis at their own expense with all their equipment; to then work late performing and rush home for work the next day,
To then not be paid can be very demotivating. This also gives them very little time to create new music.
Now, a lot of events organisers and music lovers are coming together and collaborating, to help these artists.
I first saw about this from a local photographer and also a new event organiser who is doing amazing work on the music scene, @Johnsysshots, who put up a post on social media about artists not getting paid.
It was this post, in my opinion, that started a movement for all in the industry to come together and make a change.
Another big inspiration is my amazing friend Nicole Drury,who shared the same vision with me since we first met a few years ago, and has encouraged me to keep going with our ideas.
How does Soul Crew Records differ to some other promoters?
So the aim is to work this in two parts for now.
The event company which will not be putting our own events on just yet.
For the time being, we hope to continue to collaborate with other events teams to do our part to help artists stay in paid gigs and also we can then teach more knowledge in events whilst sharing our ideas.
Collaborating brings people together and gives everybody in the industry a chance to network and share ideas with each other.
The social media side of Soul Crew aims to build a following organically to offer free advertising and promotion to artists to promote themselves.
We also have a Spotify playlist that is regularly updated, which is just for up-and-coming local artists that are active on the event scene around the North West.
We are also happy to support local venues that are helping the live music scene and also local businesses and charities that we support, including the Ava White Foundation and The Jade Roberts Project which are both close to my heart.
Lastly, our long-term aim is to bring our spiritual side into our events and to put some outdoor festivals on to bring in holistic healers I.e reiki, similar to the healing fields at Glastonbury.
Our long-term objective is to help raise consciousness through music.
Why do you think promoting music and artists at grassroots level is important?
There is so much talent that goes unnoticed and this can make people give up on their dreams before they have even begun.
We, alongside other events teams, are aiming to put on more shows with young musicians with the idea being to put these on supporting more established artists that are getting big crowds to their gigs.
I love the fact that a lot of established artists are coming to grassroots gigs to show their support.
Is the future bright for music on Merseyside?
Definitely!
I believe there is about to be a boom on the live music scene and that the eyes of the world are watching.
There is a massive pool of amazing talent in this city who, in my honest opinion, are writing and creating music to match anything out there worldwide at the moment.
With everybody in the industry here starting to pull together as one and help to push each other, the future is bright.
Let’s do this together and get all our music out to the world!
Paz, Amor Y Luz.
You can follow Rock Crew Records here.
The link to their playlist is here.
Mersey Music 